Copyright, Content and Class Action Lawsuits: A Debate on the Google Book Search Settlement

When Google began its initiative in 2004 to digitize 15 million books within a decade from university and public libraries, the project was met with immediate resistance by some authors and publishers who objected to the decision to include books still protected under copyright. The Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild of America sued Google for copyright infringement while Google defended its Google Book Search service saying that the project should be considered fair use. Recently an out-of-court settlement was reached between the parties, and individual authors and copyright holders have until May 5, 2009 to decide whether to opt-out of the class action lawsuit.

This event brings together different sides of the debate to discuss the settlement, its implications and the broader issues of orphan works and digital libraries.